Reverend Ruben Diaz, Sr (Dem) has been a City Council member from
this area since 2002. He was the pastor of Christian
Community Neighborhood Church. Diaz founded the Christian
Community Benevolent Association in 1977, has operated three
senior centers and a home attendant program for 1,000
clients in addition to the South Bronx Senior Transportation
Network, which provides transportation for seniors. Diaz is
also the president of the New York Hispanic Clergy and
served on the Civilian Review Complaint Review Board.

* * * * * *

Richard Retcho (Con) is a computer consultant. He sits on
the Board of Directors of the Chester Civic Improvement
Association. Retcho earned a degree from Manhattan College.

* * * * * *

Senator Pedro Espada, Jr. (Dem/Rep) was born in Puerto Rico and raised
in Mott Haven. Senator Espada is a product of the New York City
public school system and received his B.A. from Fordham University
in 1975. Senator Espada received certification from the New York
University Real Estate Institute in 1990. In addition, he has received
graduate training certificates from the Wharton School of Business,
the Columbia University School of Public Health, and graduate-level
training at the Hunter School of Social Work.

7 BILLS IMPORTANT TO NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS THAT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE IS LIKELY TO VOTE ON IN THE NEXT TERM:

1. Rent Regulation: The current rent regulation laws expire in June 2003. Supporters of rent regulation hope that the current provisions will be extended for another five years and that the legislature will repeal the provision which deregulates apartments that rent for $2,000 or more a month. The State Assembly passed such a bill this year, but it died in the Senate in the face of opposition from Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. If the Legislature does not take concerted action in June, rent regulation in New York City will end.

2. Commuter Tax: In 1999, when the State Legislature repealed the Commuter Tax, the city's economy was good. Reinstatement of the Commuter Tax is likely to come up again this Spring as the City's economy takes a turn for the worse.

3. School Funding: Even with mayoral control of the school system, more than 40 percent of New York City's school funding comes from Albany. Next year's budget will determine how much money New York City's schools will get from the state.

4. Rockefeller drug laws: New York's drug laws, passed in 1973 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, are among the harshest in the nation. The Democratic-controlled Assembly, Republican-controlled Senate, and the Governor have not been able to agree on how to reform these laws, look for renewed negotiations and new legislation in the next term.

5. Minimum Wage: Currently set at $5.15 an hour, Democrats will likely propose raising the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour, a proposal that failed last year.

7. Campaign Finance Reform: Some 80 organizations have proposed a "Clean Money, Clean Elections" bill for the New York State Legislature. Like the New York City law, it would establish a system under which candidates who comply with limits on campaign spending and contributions would receive public funds for their political campaigns.

7 BILLS IMPORTANT TO NEW YORK CITY RESIDENTS THAT YOUR STATE REPRESENTATIVE IS LIKELY TO VOTE ON IN THE NEXT TERM:

1. Rent Regulation: The current rent regulation laws expire in June 2003. Supporters of rent regulation hope that the current provisions will be extended for another five years and that the legislature will repeal the provision which deregulates apartments that rent for $2,000 or more a month. The State Assembly passed such a bill this year, but it died in the Senate in the face of opposition from Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. If the Legislature does not take concerted action in June, rent regulation in New York City will end.

2. Commuter Tax: In 1999, when the State Legislature repealed the Commuter Tax, the city's economy was good. Reinstatement of the Commuter Tax is likely to come up again this Spring as the City's economy takes a turn for the worse.

3. School Funding: Even with mayoral control of the school system, more than 40 percent of New York City's school funding comes from Albany. Next year's budget will determine how much money New York City's schools will get from the state.

4. Rockefeller drug laws: New York's drug laws, passed in 1973 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, are among the harshest in the nation. The Democratic-controlled Assembly, Republican-controlled Senate, and the Governor have not been able to agree on how to reform these laws, look for renewed negotiations and new legislation in the next term.

5. Minimum Wage: Currently set at $5.15 an hour, Democrats will likely propose raising the minimum wage to $6.75 an hour, a proposal that failed last year.

7. Campaign Finance Reform: Some 80 organizations have proposed a "Clean Money, Clean Elections" bill for the New York State Legislature. Like the New York City law, it would establish a system under which candidates who comply with limits on campaign spending and contributions would receive public funds for their political campaigns.

The Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act adds actual or
perceived sexual orientation to the state's existing laws
which prohibit discrimination in employment, housing, public
accommodations, education, and credit on the basis of age,
race, creed, color, national origin, sex, disability or
marital status.

Pride Agenda's Position: SUPPORT
Pedro Espada's Position: NO VOTE

Hate Crimes Act

The Hate Crimes Act enhances criminal penalties for a long
list of crimes in which perpetrators intentionally select a
target based on the victim's actual or perceived race,
color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion,
religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation.
The Hate Crimes Act also requires the state to collect,
analyze and annually report on data regarding hate crimes
throughout the state.

This measure creates a new article in labor laws by
providing standards for plumbing materials and makes certain
plumbing and piping provisions of the state uniform fire
prevention and building code.

BC of NYS Position: OPPOSITION
Pedro Espada's Position: NO VOTE

PRIMARY ELECTION - SEPTEMBER 10, 2002

Candidates:

Ruben Diaz, Sr. (Dem - Primary Winner)

Pedro Espada, Jr. (Dem/Rep) Incumbent

Richard Retcho (Con)

November
4, 2002

In one television ad, a candidate accused his rival of having once been a drug dealer. In response, the target of the charge put out a television ad that accused the first candidate of being bereft of principles and a "sellout."These are the themes of the final week of the race in the 32nd State Senate District, a swath of the South Bronx that for the last few months has been the scene of one of the most unusual, contentious and litigious political races New York City has seen.
(New York Times)

October
23, 2002

An appeals court yesterday ruled against Bronx State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., who had sought a runoff election to unseat the winner of the Democratic primary, charging election fraud.Espada said he will not seek to appeal the ruling by a four-judge panel of the Appellate Division, First Department, in Manhattan, but will focus instead on beating the party-backed candidate, City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-Soundview), in the Nov. 5 general election.
(Daily News)

October
18, 2002

The Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr.'s Democratic primary win over state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. was put on temporary hold by a appeals judge yesterday. Appellate Division Judge David Saxe issued a temporary stay and attorneys for both sides are due to argue Monday before the full court in Manhattan whether it should overturn Tuesday's ruling by Bronx State Supreme Court Justice Robert Seewald that Espada had not proven his case of election fraud.
(NY Daily News)

October
17, 2002

The Espada political dynasty took another body blow yesterday as incumbent Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo beat challenger Pedro G. Espada in Tuesday's special election.The court-ordered do-over election was held on the same day state Supreme Court Justice Robert Seewald - who ordered the runoff - ruled against the challenger's father, incumbent State Senator Pedro Espada (D-Bronx), declaring City Councilman Ruben Diaz (D-Soundview) the winner of their squeaker of a primary race last month.
(NY Daily News)
(New York Times)

October
16, 2002

After nearly three weeks of legal disputes and court-supervised ballot counting, a State Supreme Court judge in the Bronx ordered yesterday that the Board of Elections certify Ruben Diaz Sr. as the winner of the Democratic primary for a State Senate seat. He had a lead of 97 votes over the incumbent, Pedro Espada Jr.
(New York Times)

October
11, 2002

The Espada-Diaz state Senate slugfest has gone from slinging mud to filing lawsuits. In the latest turn of this campaign's downward spiral, dueling multimillion-dollar lawsuits have cropped up around accusations and revelations about City Councilman Ruben Diaz's 1965 conviction on heroin-peddling charges,
(NY Daily News)

October
10, 2002

A political slugfest between two Bronx legislators has gotten down and drug dirty with charges that one lied about being a convicted heroin dealer.State Sen. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx), who is fighting to keep his South Bronx seat, launched a TV commercial in English and Spanish this week dredging up City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.'s decades-old arrest. The commercial calls Diaz a heroin dealer.
(NY Daily News)

September
25, 2002

Amid allegations of poll irregularities, a State Supreme Court justice ordered the City Board of Elections yesterday to delay the certification of the results of the Democratic primary in Bronx races for the State Senate and Assembly. (New York Times)
(Daily News)

September
19, 2002

In one of the most memorable - and turbulent - Bronx primary races in recent memory, state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. and veteran South Bronx Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo appeared yesterday to be losers after a vote recount.
(Daily News)

September
13, 2002

Board of Elections officials will begin recounts today
in two hotly contested Bronx races from Tuesday's Democratic primary.
One contest, between incumbent South Bronx Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo
and former City Councilman Pedro G. Espada in the South Bronx's 84th
Assembly District, ended in an almost unheard-of dead heat. The other -
a down-to-the-wire race in Senate District 32 between incumbent state
Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and party-backed City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.
- ended with Diaz holding a 162-vote lead and proclaiming victory. But
Espada Jr. is challenging the results in court and will have the votes
recounted.
(Daily News)

September
12, 2002

State Senator Pedro G. Espada Jr. called for a court-sanctioned
investigation yesterday after he came up 162 votes short in a contest in the
Soundview and Mott Haven neighborhoods of the Bronx against City Councilman
Ruben Diaz Sr.
(New York Times)

September
10, 2002

After weeks of twists and turns, substitutions and deletions, there will be two candidates for the State Senate on the ballot today in the Democratic primary in the 32nd District in the Bronx.Shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a ruling that effectively placed Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. back on the ballot.
(New York Times)
(New York Daily News)

September
4, 2002

Every once in a while something new actually happens in
New York politics. The recent Republican conversions of two
former Democrats now running for the state Senate -- Bronx
incumbent Pedro Espada and Rochester assemblyman Joe Robach
-- were just such watershed events.
(Village Voice)

September
2, 2002

Pedro Espada Jr. and Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr.'s activity has all the trappings of a
competitive Democratic primary campaign in the 32nd State Senate District,
in other words, business as usual. But the race, nonetheless, has proven itself
to be one of the most uncommon and unpredictable of this political season. And
with just more than a week until primary day, Sept. 10, no one involved in or
knowledgeable about Bronx politics would predict what candidate -- if any -- would
remain on the Democratic Party's ballot by the time the polls open.
(New York Times)

August
31, 2002

The Court of Appeals ruled unanimously that the Bronx County Democratic leaders can determine
whether Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. is still "in sympathy with the principles" of the Democratic Party.
The judges upheld a lower court's findings that Espada could not be expelled from the Democratic
Party based solely on his February pronouncement that he was going to change his party enrollment
and join the Republican majority in the Senate.
(Times Union)

August
23, 2002

A State Senate district in the Bronx that
started the day without any candidates on the Democratic
primary ballot ended the day with two, after an appeals
court restored the incumbent, Pedro Espada Jr., and the
party organization backed the candidacy of the Rev. Ruben
Diaz Sr., a city councilman.
(New York Times)
(New York Daily News)

August
22, 2002

City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. emerged yesterday as the
leading contender to challenge State Sen. Pedro Espada for his South
Bronx seat.Sources said that besides Diaz (D-Soundview), who would not
have to give up his Council seat to run, another contender would be
David Rosado, who formerly held the state Senate seat before he was
defeated by Espada.Bronx Democratic Party officials have been casting
about to find a replacement for their original candidate, Raysa
Castillo, since a judge ordered her signature petitions invalidated over
the question of her legal residency. (New York Daily News)

August
20, 2002

In a blow to the Bronx Democratic Party
organization, a State Supreme Court justice ruled yesterday
that the candidate backed by the party for a State Senate
seat be removed from the ballot because she did not meet the
residency requirements.The justice, Robert G. Seewald, said
the candidate, Raysa Castillo, a lawyer, had too many
inconsistencies in her claims of Bronx residency.
(New York Times)

August
19, 2002

A State Supreme Court referee recommended on
Friday that Raysa Castillo, the candidate backed by the
Bronx Democratic Party organization to run for the senate
seat now held by Pedro Espada Jr., be removed from the
ballot for the Sept. 10 primary.
(New York Times)
(New York Daily News)

August
14, 2002

Bronx State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. was a
Democrat again yesterday, at least for the moment.His
expulsion by Bronx Democratic Party officials for canoodling
with Albany Senate Republicans was upheld Friday by a judge.
But on Monday, an appeals court judge issued a stay, letting
Espada remain in the party for now.
(New York Daily News)

August
12, 2002

The hottest political battle in the Bronx
rolls into court and the Board of Elections this week.State
Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., his expulsion from the Democratic
Party upheld by a judge Friday, is expected to appeal.
(New York Daily News)

August
8, 2002

The Democrats' choice to oppose Bronx state
Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. appears to have a residency problem,
dealing a potential blow to the party's dream of wresting
control of the Senate from Republicans this year.
(New York Daily News)

July
23, 2002

State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. found himself
embroiled yesterday in yet another controversy. Espada, whom
Bronx Democrats have been trying to kick out of the party
for switching his loyalty to Albany Republicans, funneled
$745,000 in so-called pork-barrel funds to a Soundview
community group that he heads and from which he draws more
than $200,000 a year in salary.
(Daily News)

July
22, 2002

The New York State Legislature has approved
a budget that included $745,000 in grants to a nonprofit
community group that State Senator Pedro Espada Jr.
of the Bronx heads, and that pays him more than
$200,000 a year. The grants were among Mr. Espada's "member
items," the discretionary pork-barrel money legislators get
to dole out as they see fit.
(New York Times)

July
13, 2002

Raysa Castillo, the Bronx Democratic Party's
nominee to oppose State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., officially
announced her candidacy yesterday. Castillo, a lawyer who
has worked with several nonprofit advocacy groups, said
yesterday that her effort to become the state's first female
Dominican senator would be a broad-based campaign with
support throughout the mostly Democratic 32nd Senate
District, which includes Mott Haven, Morrisania and
Soundview in the Bronx.
(New York Times)

Eye On Albany 2002 is a guide to the races for the
91 seats of the New York State Legislature that represent residents
of New York City.

For a street map and demographic information about this
district please click
here

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